Flock Paradox!
by MIssMintCoffeeMocha
Summary: As I was re-reading the Max Ride books, I started to wonder what would have happened if the flock would have went on different adventures, or what it would be like if the scenes were changed. Basically, this is a collection of one-shots that answers the question, "What if the flock..."! It's going to be a lot of fun, and romance and humor are a must! It's A Flock Paradox!
1. Beaches And Suntan Lotion

A.N… Hey! First time fanfiction writer here! I've really always wanted to write a fanfiction, but I never knew where to start. But I got this idea in my head the other day to write a couple of one-shot "what-ifs?" about Max and Fang (Go Faxness!), and extra scenes that could have been in the book.

So this one takes place between the fourth and fifth books, right before the flock has to start doing the air shows.

**What if… The flock goes to a public beach? ... And Max and Fang have a Sunblock war? **

Because after the 4th book, everyone knows about the bird kids, so they don't have to hide their wings or anything.  
This story has the whole flock, but it's mainly Max x Fang centered (As most of mine will be, since I like them)!  
**Oh, BTDubs, I don't own Max Ride, and Jimmy Pats gets all the credit for the characters! I own the plot and the beach, which is completely a made up place!**

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Early in the morning, about 10:00, the flock ambled from the packed parking lot of Rosaria Beach in northern California. Dressed in various beach clothes and swimming attire, especially the Gasman who was rocking a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt, strode along the asphalt toward the hot shimmering sand that led to the ocean.

Fang had a picnic basket in one hand and each flock member had their own beach bag to carry their towels and other summer needs in. Aside from Fang, as he was "too manly to carry a 'purse'" as he called it, so he had slung his black towel over his shoulder instead.

Max glanced around nervously, her eyes hidden behind her fancy schmancy dark shades that the CSM, one of her mother's new organizations, had recently provided her and the flock. It was one of many gifts of payment they had received for their recently becoming members, and they would continue to get paid after each air show they participated in. Yes, air shows. Max was not a happy camper.

But hey! Look on the bright side! She would get to see her mother a lot more often, and to be able to work with her? It was one of Max's wishes come true! But she still didn't quite like the idea of doing public scheduled shows over big polluted cities, as possible snipers would be able to get the jump on them easily.

Max knew she wasn't alone in thinking this; Fang had the same discomforts as she did about the subject. Glancing at him, tall and wearing all black, of course, she saw him scoping out the beach goers from behind his tinted sunglasses as well, just as nervous as she was. Which he, naturally, didn't show, as anyone but Max wouldn't be able to pick up on it.

Angel took hold of Max's hand, and she looked down at the beaming six year old. Max smiled gently, and ruffled her bouncy blonde curls atop her head, making her giggle.

"Max," Angel said, excitedly bouncing up and down. "Do you think that there are dolphins here?"

"Hmm… I'm not sure, kiddo. That would be fun though, wouldn't it?" Max retorted, grinning at Angel who nodded her head enthusiastically and began skipping beside her, the ruffles on her pink one-piece suit bouncing up and down along with her.

"OMG, Max!" Nudge exclaimed from Max's right, "That would be, like, sooo much fun! I've always wanted to swim with the dolphins! And be able to ride one, and feed one! Max, do you think they like sandwiches? I know they like fish and all, but we only brought peanut butter and jelly! Hmm… Do you think it would make them sick if I gave them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Because I know they aren't used to that kind of food, and like, I don't want them getting sick to their stomachs and throwing up all over the place-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down there, girl!" Iggy declared, slapping a hand over Nudge's mouth. "You're making _me_ sick with all this talking!" Nudge licked his palm and Iggy jumped away. "Eew! Gross!"

Nudge stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at the flailing boy. "Iggy, it's impossible to get sick from a person talking too much. _Everyone_ knows that. _Duh_." She rolled her eyes and walked up to the rest of the flock who had waited up for the two at the edge of the parking lot.

Nudge crossed her arms against her purple takini covered chest in agitation. Max squeezed her arm. "It's okay, Nudge. I'm sure that dolphins love sandwiches, even if it is just peanut butter and jelly." Nudge gave Max a small smile, then reached into her hot pink beach bag and pulled out her designer shades, slipping them over her dark brown eyes. Max for one hated peanut butter and jelly, but no one knew that.

The temperature instantly raised another five degrees as the flock stepped onto the sand. It was an unbearably hot day out today, the temperature ranging in the high 90's. The sun was shining down on the beach, reflecting off the waves and heating the sand up beneath them.

Earlier in the day, the flock had woken up in their motel, not having any plans or duties lined up for the day, and Max thought it would be fun just to relax and do something exciting for the kids, since they all hadn't had any down time in a while. Max and Fang had searched on Fang's laptop for local recreation sights, and had found many advertisements for Rosario beach, where the flock was currently located.

Max hadn't been too thrilled about going to the beach, but reluctantly agreed to the flock's excited chatter. Even though people knew about their wings now, Max couldn't shake all those past years of living in hiding and keeping their mutant wings a secret. Now looking at the overpopulated beach, Max grew even more anxious.

The hot sand squished beneath their flip-flops as they found a small place that was unoccupied to lay their stuff down. Gazzy, Iggy, Nudge, and Angel immediately threw their bags down the first chance they got, leaving them in a bunched pile as they the dodged people laying out on the sand to make their way to the ocean.

"Well, that was fast." Fang murmured, setting down the picnic basket and unslinging his towel from his shoulder, neatly laying it on the sand next to Max's turquoise colored one.

"Yeah, no kidding." Max said, straightening out the towel before she walked over and began to organize the flock's jumbled pile of bags and spare clothing. Fang joined her, and together they laid out the flock's variously colored towels around their own.

Max kicked off her flip flops and sat back on her towel, surveying the people around the flock with caution. The kids had let their wings out, and there were excited gasps and collective whispers emitted from people around them. Oh no, Max did not like this for sure.

**_Max P.O.V.**

"Hey, Relax…" Fang sighed. "They'll be fine. Plus they've got us to watch them. Okay?" I reluctantly nodded my head and turned my gaze back to the flock. Angel was caught in a bear hug by Iggy, and Gazzy was attacking her while Nudge snuck behind him and dunked him under the waves. They were all laughing and having fun for once in a long time.

The summery smell of suntan lotion wafted across my nose and I turned my head to see Fang holding the bottle out to me. I raised my eyebrows at him and he rolled his eyes. "You're going to get burnt, Max." He said and I shrugged my shoulders, taking the bottle from him. I've always kind of liked the smell of suntan lotion, but never really had reason to put it on. It was a strong, easily identifiable smell, and it would have lured erasers towards us in an instant. But there was something… I don't know; _relaxing_, about the smell, I guess.

I squirted out a big blob of it on my hands and began to spread it on my arms, trying to avoid my t-shirt sleeves, when I thought: 'oh, what the heck.' I stood up and shimmied out of my shirt and kicked off my shorts to reveal my black and white striped two piece swimming suit. And no, for all you people out there wondering, it was not a bikini. Max + bikinis = definite no-no's. But this one did have an open back, just held together by a string that was tied under my wings. I would have much preferred not having my back exposed, but then my wings would have been confined, and I would have been even less of a happy camper. I let my wings stretch out slightly, but pulled them tightly against my back once more when I noticed some people staring.

I sighed as I sat down and resumed covering myself in that wonderful smelling lotion. Legs, knees, and feet, check. Arms and chest-ish area check. I had definitely turned away from Fang when I did the chest-ish area. He's such a sexist pig.

When I was done covering myself, I threw the bottle at Fang's t-shirt clad stomach and he let out an 'oof'. He lowered his sun glasses and glared his dark eyes at me, before they widened in surprise and his cheeks flushed a bit. I didn't blame him; he's probably never seen me in anything other than jeans, t-shirts, and combat boots.

I couldn't help but smirk at him. Ha-ha, he's blushing now! I let my sunglasses slip to the end of my nose before winking at him, then pushed them back up and laid down on the towel to soak up the sun. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually get a real tan instead of a fake dirt-covered one.

My moment was interrupted when a large glob of sunscreen plopped on my nose. I sat up, ripping my sunglasses off, and glared at Fang who was smirking at me now. "You never put any on your face, did you." He crooned. Huh, I guess I never did.

I swiped most of the goop off my nose and tackled Fang, who let out an uncharacteristic laugh at our playfulness. "You know what, F'nick?" I cooed, leaning close to his face and struggling to pin down his arms. "You didn't put any sunblock on either!" And with that, I proceeded to cover his face with the wonderful lotion.

I couldn't help but laugh as some got in his mouth and he sputtered, or when some got stuck in his bangs. Hey, it's his fault he hasn't gotten his hair cut in forever!

After his face was entirely covered, and a much lighter shade than his normal olive-toned one, I rolled off him and back onto my towel. I still had a little sunblock on my face, so I gently rubbed it in, grinning at Fang like the Cheshire cat as he squinted his eyes at me, the lotion stuck in his eyelashes.

"You might want to rub that in," I began. "People might think you did a face-plant into a vanilla cake." Fang let out a growl and began to message the lotion into his skin.

"You know," Fang began conversationally, "I didn't see you put any sunblock on your back, either." A mischievous glint alighted in his eyes as he leaned towards me. "I could always… Put some on for you…"

I tried to get up, but wasn't quick enough as Fang tackled me onto my stomach, my face off the towel as I face-planted in the sand. He held me down and poured half the bottle on my back; all the while I flailed and declared death threats at him. After the bottle was almost empty, he leaned back on his towel and sighed happily, flipping the bottle in the air and catching it, only to blow on its lid like a smoking gun in old western movies.

"Fang…" I panted. I was going to kill that kid. "You are soo dead!" Fang just shrugged and made a 'come at me, bro!' gesture.

I lost it.

I shot up and made a dash at Fang, but he was quicker than I thought and spun out of my grasp. I started pursuing him across the beach, trying to grab his t-shirt and strangle him with it, jumping over tanners and dodging the tourists going to and fro. After chasing each other in a huge circle around the beach's perimeter, we finally made it back to our towels, gasping for air and trying to hold in our laughter.

Fang collapsed on his back onto his towel, sucking in deep breaths of air. A blinding smile was stretched across his face, teeth and all. Huh… Fang's actually pretty hot- Wait! Ha-ha! I meant that he's not bad looking… at all… Yeah, that's it.

I did the same, only to jump right back up again when I heard a squishing noise coming from my butt. I twisted my head to look at my swimsuit bottoms, only to glare at Fang with a newfound fury. Fang gave me a questioning look, so I turned around and pointed to my butt. After a few seconds, he keeled over in laughter once more, holding his stomach and turning his head to the sky. Okay, when Fang laughs, like as in actually _laughs_, it's impossible not to join in with him. So I grudgingly started to giggle as I used the end of the towel to wipe the sunscreen off my swimsuit.

You see, Fang had used half of the bottle of sunscreen on my back and neck. And all that running had made the immense amount of sunscreen drip and fall, so now it was covering the back of my legs, as well as my butt. If I wasn't so tired from chasing him around the whole freaking beach, I might have clobbered him.

When I was done cleaning up the mess of sunscreen, I sat down and decided to attempt to rub in the remainder of the lotion on my back. But alas, it's hard to reach your own back. So I ended up flailing my arms and probably looking like a deformed backwards seal in order to reach my upper back. Fang only laughed harder. I sighed in defeat and started to lay down when Fang's warm hands started rubbing the sunblock into my neck.

"You look like you need some help, there," Fang chuckled, spreading the offending lotion into my skin. I tried to fight back a blush as he rubbed my neck and shoulders, between my wings, my lower back… Which, I'm pretty sure I already had rubbed in…

But too soon, Fang finished rubbing and rolled over onto his towel, picking up his sunglasses where they had fallen in the sand when I had started chasing him. Sliding them on, he gave me a saccharine smile before stretching his arms underneath his head and staring at the sun. Well, I'm guessing he was just closing his eyes, since, you know… The sun can blind you…

I shook my head and did the same, resting my arms under my head and closing my eyes. My sunglasses still lie in the sand where they had fallen, but I didn't bother picking them up. I doubt I was ever going to get a tan now, since I had about a whole bottle of sunscreen absorbed in my skin. After a few minutes, a thought occurred to me.

"Hey Fang?" I questioned, looking over at him.

"Hmm?" He murmured sleepily, not turning his head.

"You do know that you're probably going to get a farmer's tan, right?" Fang didn't move for a moment, still staring at the sky. But slowly, his head swiveled to face me. He inclined his body towards mine and supporting himself with one arm, a small smirk on his lips. Our faces were only a couple inches apart now. I subtly gulped. Yeah, I'm just a ninja like that. All stealth. And subtle-y-ness.

"Wait… Is that your way of saying that you want me to take my shirt off?" Fang whispered teasingly, his eyebrows rose as he gazed at my blushing face.

"N... No! NO Way! I don't want to see your nonexistent six pack!" I yelled. Fang raised his eyebrows even higher as his smirk grew. He knew I was lying. He knew that I knew that he indeed, did have a pretty well defined six pack. And I knew that I was lying because part of me really did want to see his lean muscular stomach.

"Hmm…" Fang murmured, a flirty smile breaking out over his lips. His soft, pink lips... He leaned closer, his nose almost brushing mine. "I think you're lying…"

"Am not!" Maybe I had been wrong about his assumption before?"

"Let me rephrase that," He began, His soft bangs, still covered with sunblock, sweeping against my forehead. "I _know_ you're lying."

"Really, Mr. Obnoxious?" I retorted, glaring warily at him. No way was I going to let his closeness, or the way his hot breath washed against my face deter me. Nuh-uh. Never! Even if his breath _did _smellminty…

Dang it, Fang! Why do you have to smell like one of my favorite smells? "Believe it or not, I don't give two flying tortoise shells about your stinking abs! Leave your shirt on, for all I care! You're the one whose skin is going to look disproportional!"

After a short pause, Fang spoke. "You do know that you just admitted I had abs, don't you?"

"GAH!" I shouted, covering my eyes with my hands! He is so infuriating!

Fang chuckled from beside me. "Say no more, say no more. You don't have to ask me twice." I groaned in agitation and kept my hands over my eyes. No way was I going to look! That would only prove his point, and it is my life goal to make sure that dearest Fangles never wins! I heard the rustling of fabric before I felt Fang's warm black t-shirt flop on my hiding face.

I let out a breath and decided to count to ten. One… Deep breath… Two… Deep breath…

I got to three before I flung it aside and glared at Fang. Fang, who was… Shirtless. And sweating. And hot. And smirking at me.

"Like what you see, Maxie?" He purred, leaning back on his arms and looking at me through long dark lashes. As a matter of fact, I did like what I see. His olive toned skin glinted in the sun, and the sweat on his skin caused him to shimmer. That in contrast with his dark hair, eyes, wings, and swimming trunks created a very attractive picture. The only thing really wrong with this is that he was my best friend, and I don't think I'm allowed to think these thoughts.

"Ha!" I exclaimed once I regained my composure, scoffing. "You wish! I can find someone better looking in a millisecond!"

"Oh, is that so? Well, where is he?" Hmm… Hot guy, hot guy…

"Him!" I said, pointing down the beach at a shirtless guy playing sand volleyball with a bunch of girls in bikinis. "He is way hot!" It was true, he was more muscular than Fang, and he had that whole surfer look going for him. I mean, he wasn't as hot as Fang, but he was close.

"Hmm…" Fang murmured, lowering his shades. "His friends are pretty hot too." I rolled my eyes at my best friend, who was practically drooling over the beach bunnies as they squealed and giggled in their barely-there swimming suits. If you could even call them that. "But I think I could take that guy in an attractiveness contest."

"Really? I don't think so. Just look at his muscles! And his blonde hair!" I sighed dreamily. "Soo much more attractive!" Fang slanted his gaze over to me, now serious.

"I thought you liked dark haired guys?" He questioned curiously, his eyebrows lowered. His wings fluttered a bit behind him as he stretched them the tiniest amount.

"What? Where did you get that from?" I asked, surprised. I've never talked to Fang, or anyone for that matter, about what I liked in a significant other. The truth was, I've never really thought about what I liked. I guess I'd want my man to be strong, muscular (a must) so he can fight, be able to hold his own in arguments and battles… Reliable, and accepts me for who I am… So far the only guy I've ever met like that was Fang or Iggy. Ugh, Iggy is definitely out, being like my brother and all. But Fang… No, that would never work. Would it?

"I… No, I just thought… Assumed, I guess." Fang looked back towards the beach bunnies again for a second before snapping his gaze towards the flock, who were making their way towards us. I glanced at Fang, curious about his reaction. Did he really think I liked dark haired guys? _Did _I like dark haired guys? Like Fang? Did I like Fang? I sighed internally. So many questions.

Angel giggled as she plopped down in my lap, wet from splashing in the ocean. Pondering over Fang will have to wait until later. The rest of the flock shuffled in, laughing and bantering playfully.

"So," I began, addressing my flock as they all flopped down on their towels. "Did you find any dolphins?"

"Nope!" Gazzy answered as he shook out his spiky hair like a dog next to Nudge, who squealed and smacked him in the arm. "But we did find some fish!"

"No jellyfish, I hope." I muttered. I heard those could be pretty deadly.

"No, but how awesome would that be?" Gazzy replied, grinning ear to ear.

"Why, perchance, would that be awesome?"

"Because," Gazzy started, pausing for dramatic effect. "The only way to get rid of the toxins… Is to pee on the stings!" I made a 'blech-ing' sound, while Angel and Nudge shouted in disgust. Iggy slapped Gazzy a high-five, and Fang rolled his eyes.

"That would have been so hilarious, Gaz!" Iggy exclaimed, laughing. "Next time we're at a beach? Totally going to find some jellyfish!" Gazzy answered with an ecstatic "Man, you know it!", and I shook my head.

"Next time we're at a beach, I'm not going anywhere near you two!" Nudge said, sticking her tongue out at Iggy when he tried to mimic her. Not like he could see it, anyway.

"So, are you guys hungry?" I asked, "Since you've been chasing each other across the width of the ocean?" I had seen them playing tag about an hour ago, and they were diving in and out of the water, dunking each other and swimming every which way.

"Are _you_ hungry, Max?" Angel asked, looking up at me from where she was seated on my lap. "Because you were chasing Fang all over the width of the beach?" My mouth opened in an 'O' shape, and the flock tried to hide their giggles.

Fang smirked at Angel. "She just couldn't resist me." I turned and glared at him while he continued. "She wants my hot bod, you know." The flock couldn't help but burst into laughter, and I scoffed at Fang, who winked at me.

I punched Fang in the shoulder. "Yeah, as if!" Angel crawled over to Nudge so Nudge could comb through her tangled hair. Nudge stood there shocked as she just realized something.

"ZOMG," Nudge started, her eyes widening as she looked at Fang. "I think that's the first time I've ever seen Fang without his shirt on."

"Pretty impressive, right?" Fang crooned, leaning back on his arms once again. "Huh, Max?" The flock all chuckled again, and Nudge whispered something to Angel, who smacked her hands to her mouth to try and hide her giggles. My eyes narrowed.

"Okay, okay, enough humor at my expense. Even if it's _not true_!" I emphasized, sending a pointed glare to Fang. He just shrugged and gave me that cute half smile only Fang could pull off. Sigh, how I loved that smile. "So, who's hungry?" Change the subject. Food is a very good subject changer for us bird freaks.

"Me, me!" Angel declared, waving her hands in the air. See? Told you it would work!

"Angel, hold still!" Nudge scolded as she was attempting to run the brush through the six year old's curls. "But yeah, I'm totally famished."

"Want me to get out the sandwiches?" Iggy asked, feeling around for the picnic basket.

"Sure thing, Ig. It's behind Nudge and to the left." I instructed, reaching over to finally pick up my fallen sunglasses from earlier. Youch! They were burning hot from the sun. Iggy handed me four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and I thanked him before grudgingly biting into one. Blech. But food was food, and I was pretty hungry.

I looked out towards the ocean again, the waves lapping against the shore and washing away the sand. Fang informed me that it was almost 2:00 now, and I knew we would have to leave soon. I peered around at my flock and saw them laughing and telling funny stories, happily eating their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Some days I really wish that we could spend all day, every day like this. Not have any world-saving obligations, not having to worry about being chased or hunted all the time. To just be` together. A flock.

And Fang and I, being able to tease each other and have fun together. We hadn't had that in a long time. I glanced over at him to find him watching me, slowly biting into his sandwich. I raised my eyebrows at him in question, and he leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"It's okay… I don't like these sandwiches either." How did he…? I glanced back at him as he pulled away, winking at me. I smiled. Fang really got me, in a way nobody else did. He knew me, accepted me, was there for me… Hmm.

Maybe I did know what I wanted in a guy after all.

Third Person P.O.V.

Later that night, Max stared at herself in the bathroom mirror as she towel dried her damp hair. She had just stepped out of the shower and changed into her flannel pajamas, even though it was summer out. What? Hotels can get really chilly at night!

The shower had been nice and refreshing, the perfect escape from spending the whole day in the hot afternoon sun. Plus she had to wash all of the sunscreen out of her hair and her feathers, which was not an easy task. Thanks, Fang.

The flock had left the beach around supper time, since they had eaten all of their sandwiches, and made their way back to the hotel. They had two separate rooms, one for the guys and one for the girls. They had gone out for pizza, and now everyone was in the girl's room watching T.V. and eating the unlimited free popcorn they had gotten from the lobby.

Max grinned to herself as she looked at her reflection. Despite Fang practically covering her with sunblock that afternoon, she had somehow gotten a tan! Granted, it was barely noticeable, but Max could tell. She through the towel down on the floor (because she is organized like that), and took out her toothbrush and toothpaste from her backpack.

A knock sounded at the door just as she was about to start brushing her teeth. .

"Max?" Fang questioned, "You almost done?" Max rolled her eyes and placed the toothbrush in her mouth, scraping the bristles against her pearly whites. Every time she took a shower, she always got ridiculed for taking too long or not hurrying up fast enough. Granted, she did take hour long showers, and the hot water was usually gone when she was done… But she was the leader, and dang it! She could indulge if she wanted too.

"Jut ah secant!" She said around a mouthful of toothpaste. Fang waited patiently by the door while she spit and rinsed, then packed everything back up in her pack. Slinging it over her shoulder, she couldn't wait to gloat in Fang's face about getting a tan.

Opening up the door, Max came face to face with Fang. "Fang, guess what! Despite your efforts to _completely_ cover me in sunblock, I actually got a tan…" Max trailed off as her eyes lingered down Fang's shirtless torso and back to his face.

"Yeah. So did I." Fang muttered sarcastically.

Max doubled over in laughter, holding her stomach and pointing at Fang. Childish, yes. But she couldn't help it. Fang was burnt to a crisp, not having put on sunblock anywhere but his face (courtesy of Max). And his face… Max had to lean against the wall to stop from falling over, cackling. His face hadn't gotten burned at all. The contrast of Fang's normal olive-toned face and his now dark red body was comical. Tears gathered in Max's eyes.

"Oh, Fangles!" She squealed between fits of giggles. "You look like you put beauty powder on your face!" More laughter. "You know, like the ones they used in ancient China?" Fang glowered at her as she dropped to the floor, her stomach feeling numb from laughing too much.

"I'm so glad you find this funny." He stated, shaking his head at her. Truth be told, Fang was having a hard time not chuckling along with Max. She had this laughter that Fang found… Utterly contagious. She didn't laugh often, but when she did, Fang couldn't help but feel like he was instantly in a better mood.

"Hey, I told you to put sunblock on!"

"Yeah. Thanks for that, Sherlock."

"Just remember next time-"

"Yep. Way ahead of you."

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**A.N… Sooo…. How'd you like it? This chapter was really fun to write, with Max and Fang's playfulness. They were a little OOC, since I doubt Fang would laugh as much as he did in the story, but I tried to get close to their characters! **

**But What'cha think? Good? Bad? In-between? Just okay? Well, I guess that is the same thing as 'in-between', in'nit? **

**I want to know what you guys think about my writing style, too. I always find it hard to do first-person writing, so tell me what you think! **

**I tried to make it slightly in character. I know I didn't nail it, but I hope I got somewhat close! **

**And since this will probably be a collection of one-shots, I will try to update at least once a week, maybe twice a week. I don't know! I have another one-shot already written, so I will upload it soon over 4****th**** of July weekend. **

**Also, if you have any ideas for more 'What-ifs', feel free to send them to me! I have a list of ideas, but I would love to have your input! **

**Please Review! Constructive Criticism would be very much appreciated! And thanks for reading! **


	2. Voices And Message Therapy

**A.N….Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed/favorited/started following this story! I was actually really nervous about that first chapter (being a first time FanFiction writer, and all), but I was really pleased and excited with your reviews!  
Actually, 'excited' was kind of an understatement! I was like 'Oh my gosh! I got a review, and a favorite?! SQUEE!  
Ha-ha… I'm lame… :D  
**  
So I was skimming through the 5th book, MAX, yesterday, and I was like, 'huh':

**What if… Max and Fang had a talk before she went flying solo?**

You know, before she went off on her own after she reunited with her mom and they ate Mexican food. And thought about Fang, then got shot by mister Chu, and so on and so forth. Well, you know how it goes!

**But I thought it would make for an interesting one shot.  
And this kind of explores the ****awkward/nervous tension**** of an in-between friendship and a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. At least I think… I'm kind of running on movies and other stories for experience here!  
And I underlined it there because it really gets awkward! **

**This one is a bit more serious than the first chapter I did, but I tried to throw in some humor as well! But I'm a bit more nervous about this one, since I usually just do humor stuff! :D **

**Anyways, here it is! I hope you like it! **

**Again, I don't own Maximum Ride or the characters! Those all belong to Mr. Patts! **

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I walked out of the bathroom after a much needed shower, towel drying my hair so it wouldn't drip all over my clean shirt. Our delicious Mexican dinner, courtesy of mi Madre, had just gotten done a few hours ago, and my flock was chilling in the living room of our newfound safe house.

I had excused myself right after I was done helping Mom with dishes and had made my way to the showers. It was nice to wash the dirt, sweat, and blood off my skin, but unfortunately, the hot water didn't take all of the knots out of my muscles from the battle with the M-geeks earlier today. Yup, this was the life for us renegade mutant bird freaks! Sometimes it sucked... Well, most of the time it sucked. But what can we do?

After padding barefoot down the hallway, I reached 'my room', or the one designated to be mine for the night. I walked in and closed the door before flopping onto the mattress and staring at the white ceiling fan. The room was a small one, covered in soft blue paint and matching furniture. And the bed was way too comfortable. I let out a small sigh as I knew that sleep was going to be hard to come by tonight.

Now you may ask, "But Max? You must be exhausted from the fight! And a comfy bed? It would be so easy for you to crash!" Well, truth be told, I was beyond exhausted. The only thing I wanted to do right now was sleep. But being on the run for the last, well, our whole lives I guess, sleeping in caves and slabs of concrete became sort of the norm for us. And if you were used to sleeping on hard surfaces, beds sometimes became _too_ soft, and the change was hard to adjust to.

Well, for me anyways. The rest of the flock settled into it immediately, soaking up the relaxation and comfort of a home. And sometimes I envied them. What I wouldn't give to not have to be paranoid all the time, to be able to let my guard down and relax a little. Those moments where I did were very rare, and were becoming farther and farther apart as time passed. And now I'm being dramatic.

'But that is the responsibility of a leader, Max'. I bit out a groan as the Voice decided to make its appearance known.

'Long time no see, All-So-Wise One.' I thought back irritably. Having Angel be able to invade your thoughts was one thing, but me being me, I had acquired another occupant sharing space in my brain. 'Got any words of wisdom to share with me today?'

'Max', It droned, its voice as monotone as ever. 'I know your duties are hard to bear,'

'No, really?! Thank you, Captain Obvious!' I interrupted. I could swear that it sighed in annoyance, but I couldn't be sure. Oh, how I hoped so!

'All I want to do is help you with this burden.' It said. My irritation was growing by the nanosecond.

'If you want to help, then _get out_ of my head!' I was stressed, tired, and irritable, and Confucius here was annoying the crap out of me.

'I'm sorry Max, but I'm afraid I can't do that.' I suppressed a scream and clenched my fists. I really did not want to deal with this right now. I rolled on the soft downy comforter and pressed my face into it, trying to ignore the Voice.

After a few moments of it not speaking, I began to relax a bit, finally able to be alone with my thoughts. A soft tapping noise came from the door and I squelched a groan. 'For once in my life?' I thought irritably.

"Max?" Fang murmured quietly. "Can I come in?" I let out a long sigh. _Fang_. Things between us were sort of rocky at the moment. What with his quietness one minute and longing to have heart-to-hearts with me the next, I wasn't really sure where we were at relationship-wise.

"Yeah, come on in." I tried to hide the frustration in my voice, I really did, but one look at Fang's face when he peered around the door told me that he'd detected it.

"What's up?" He silently closed the door and strode across the room to where I was laying, and perched his slim dark form at the end of my bed. I looked away from his curious face and instead stared at the dresser across the room. I really didn't want to talk about _us_, no way, and no thank you sir! So I instead decided to focus on our next move. A safe topic; one that wouldn't bring up any more awkwardness than was already hanging around us every freaking moment we were together.

I glanced back at him to see that he was now sitting cross-legged by my feet and waiting patiently for me to speak. I sat up and matched his position. I was getting ready to talk when I was suddenly aware of how close we were now, with our faces just a few feet inches apart. I tried to subtly scoot back, but of course Fang noticed and performed his standard eye-brow raise, which produced my own mental face palm. 'Way to stop things from getting awkward, there Max.' I thought to myself.

"I'm just," I stopped to clear my throat, blushing when Fang's other eyebrow shot up. "I'm just wondering if we're safe here." There. I got it out!

"Mm-hmm." Fang murmured, unconvinced, and unknowingly leaned forward. "Now what's really bothering you?"

I wanted to shout out a childlike "your face!" remark, but decided against it. I sighed deeply as Fang waited patiently once more. Geez, that kid's got talent!

"It's just," I tried again, only to fall short. The truth is, I had a lot of stuff bothering me at the moment. And a lot of those bothers included Fang. Like the way he was always with Brigid, or the way he shot me those affectionate little looks, well as affectionate as Fang could look anyway, only to stare at any other girl he saw. Or how he kissed me, then flirted with other girls, or how he wanted us to talk about our feelings even though it'd be pointless.

'It wouldn't be pointless, Max,' the Voice reverberated in my head. I let out another groan. Not again!

"Voice?" Fang asked, raising his eyebrows expectantly. When I nodded, he made a 'take all the time you need' gesture with his hands before resting an arm on his black jean covered knee and placing his face in his palm. His dark bangs flopped in front of his eyes, but he made no move to push them aside. He really needed his hair cut soon. Although his shaggy hair did really add to that whole 'tall, dark, and mysterious' thing he had going on.

'Why can't you just leave me alone?' I whined in my head, glaring at the unoccupied area of blue comforter between me and Fang.

'You two need to work things out,' it continued, 'All this skirting around each other isn't good for either of you.'

'Yeah, yeah. What are you, the love guru?' I thought. I began absent mindedly pulling at a loose string in the fabric.

'If you get your feelings out in the open, maybe you can think about other things than how conflicted you are about Fang.'

"I do too think about other things!" I huffed. Then I realized I had said it out loud, and my wide eyes locked on Fang's, his eyes alight with a newfound curiosity.

'Just think about it, Max. You can't be the best leader when your mind is not set on the tasks at hand…' The voice trailed off and I waited for a few seconds before I determined it was gone, for the moment. I unclenched my fists and ran a hand through my still damp hair. Fang's eyes followed my movements, his head still resting on his palm. After a few moments of strained silence, Fang decided to break the tension.

"So…" He trailed off, brushing his bangs back from his olive toned face, only to have them flop back over his dark eyes once more.

"The Voice is annoying." I supplied. Fang nodded slightly in understanding.

"Anything… Particularly annoying?" He questioned, his eyes boring into mine. Or his _eye_, since his other one was covered. Ha-ha. He's such a Cyclops.

"It just keeps telling me that I'm not focused enough." I ran a hand across my face. I really was tired. If only I could relax enough to sleep.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Fang said. "You said something about 'thinking of other things too'?" He raised his head off his palm and instead leaned back on his arms, stretching his midnight black wings out slightly behind him. "Something on your mind?"

"Oh, yeah. _That_." I murmured, embarrassed at my slip-up earlier. "Yeah, I've just had a lot going on lately." I know it was a lame excuse, but no way was I going to talk to him about _feelings_, no matter what the Voice said.

"Care to elaborate on that?"

"It's really nothing. I can deal with it." Fang shook his head in frustration, a humorless smirk pulling up his lips.

"Really? What are you hiding in that noggin' of yours, 'eh, Max?" Fang joked teasingly, raising his hand and tapping my head playfully with his knuckles. I skirted away from his touch, a reflex reaction, really. But I caught a small glimpse of hurt in his eyes before he became emotionless once more.

"Look Max, I know you've been going through a hard time. We all have, what with our lives being threatened every time we turn around. It would be hard to be the leader. And you're doing a great job. You really are. But you don't have to go through this _alone_."

His eyes begged me to trust him. I looked back down at the comforter again. I didn't want to let him in. Yes, he was my best friend, and yes I could trust him with anything and everything. But this was out of the ball park for both of us. There were some things that I just had to deal with on my own, and this was one of them.

Fang sighed before continuing. "I could help you, ya' know?" He cleared his throat, almost sounding a bit... nervous? Fang nervous? Well, that was a first! "You don't have to keep everything locked up. It's not healthy." Just like the voice had said. "Not to boast or anything, but I _am_ a good listener…" He trailed off. I couldn't help but let out a small grin. I snuck a glance at him to find a small miniscule smile adorning his lips. To all you people who don't know Fang personally, that smile was equal to a full-fledged toothy grin in Fang language.

"Well, I guess you _are_ pretty good at listening." He nodded smugly, giving me a playful wink.

"So I've been told." I couldn't fight back a giggle at his playfulness. I quickly slapped a hand over my mouth. W-o-w. Did I just giggle? Maximum Ride does _not_ giggle. But it had been so long since we'd been able to tease each other. There was no denying the fact that I missed it.

Removing my hand from my mouth, I cleared my throat and gazed back down at my hands as I folded them neatly in my lap.

"Hey," Fang probed, and I unwillingly glanced up at him. "Tell me what's wrong." He didn't state it so much as a friendly question any more, but now as an order. His obsidian eyes searched mine, trying to peer into my soul, or whatever the heck he was trying to accomplish that intense gaze of his. His intense, caring, hothothot gaze... Wait… erm, what?

"It really is nothing big." A stern look from him and I knew further elaboration was needed. "I'm tired and stressed, and I just can't seem to relax." I rubbed my neck absent mindedly, a little anxious for some reason. After a few moments of Fang seeming to debate with himself, he finally sighed and straightened.

"C'mere." He instructed, holding his hands out slightly in invitation.

"Uh, what?" Ever the wit, that's me! He shook his head and moved closer, placing his warm calloused hands on my shoulders and spinning me around. "Wha-what are you doing?!"

"Hush," He ordered as he settled behind me and gently began messaging my shoulders. All of my senses were on hyper alert, and a deep blush settled on my cheeks as I tensed under his touch.

"Fang, you don't have to-"

"Will you just shut it and relax?" He interrupted, pausing his rubbing to peer over my shoulder and shoot me a look that said 'listen to me, you nimrod!'. After I reluctantly nodded my head, he resumed kneading the muscles in my shoulder blades, his hands searing me with their heat. He worked his way up my neck, messaging all of the knots and easing the tension out of the base of my skull.

"Just relax," he murmured, his warm fingers gently stoking the sides of my neck. "You're all tensed up."

A shaky sigh escaped my lips, and Fang paused for a moment before starting to rub between my wings. His hands moved in large circular patterns, so much like the time he rubbed my neck in that cave, right before he kissed me for the first time. I found my wings stretching themselves on their own accord, and Fang had to lean back to avoid being hit by them. I muttered out an apology, and he chuckled quietly before scratching in between my wings how he knew I liked it.

I exhaled in relief as I finally was able to relax. I let the weight fall off my shoulders as I melted into Fang's touch. I had always thought it was amazing how Fang, tough and fierce and strong, could be so gentle and compassionate at times. Just like now, as he worked all of the knots out of my muscles, brushed my hair off my shoulders, placed his lips against my neck…

Wait, what?!

I spun around to stare at Fang, my open wings smacking him and almost sending him tumbling off the bed. For a moment we just stared at each other, eyes locked. I opened my mouth a few times to speak, but nothing came out. Once again, I was speechless. Had he really just kissed me? Or had I been imagining it? I wanted so badly to know, but I just couldn't seem to get the words out.

Fang cleared his throat and looked down, before his emotionless eyes met my own again. "Did that help at all?"

I looked at the alarm clock on my nightstand. 11:46. Huh. Time flies. "Um, yeah. Thanks." Wow, awkward much, Max? But it had helped, and I felt utterly un-tensed, for the first time in a long time.

Fang nodded, looking at the door. "Well, I'm glad it did." After a moment of not speaking, he turned and slid off the bed, holding his fist out to stack. I held mine out as well, and we did our nightly bedtime ritual. Fang shot me one last undecipherable look before he walked towards my door.

He turned the knob and opened it, the light from the hallway spilling into my dark room. Before he exited, he hesitated. "You know, if you ever need anything… You always have me, okay?" Fang turned his head to smile slightly at me before he walked through the door, shutting it tightly behind him.

I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. Where had all this tension come from? We used to be so comfortable around each other. Now it seemed like we would rather be anywhere else than in each other's company. But yet at the same time, we still wanted to be near each other too… Gah! This was way too confusing!

But still Fang's words hung in the air. He was there for me. And somehow I knew that he always would be there for me. I shrugged my shoulder a bit and rubbed my neck with one of my hands. No knots. No more strain in my muscles. That kid would make a wonderful message therapist.

I sighed for the nth time that night and sank back into the bed, burying my face in a fluffy pillow. Fang. Fang, Fang, _Fang_. So confusing. And stubborn. And pigheaded and strong… Why was this so complicated?

'Because you're in love with him, Max.' The Voice whispered in my head. My head shot up from my pillows, my eyes wide and cheeks flushed. I started to deny it in my head, but came up short. What if the Voice was right? What if I really was… In _love_… With him? Angel had even said it herself, that he was in love with me. What if…

No, no. That couldn't be right. Could it? I shook my head and slid off my bed. I walked toward the large window and looked out at the distant lights of the Mexican city.

I needed to clear my head. I opened up the window pane, the warm night breeze caressed my face and tousled my almost dry hair.

'You two have matured an incredible amount, Max.'

'And what's that supposed to mean', I growled, stepping up the window pane and readying my wings to jump out.

'You aren't little kids anymore. After you save the world, you'll have to start thinking about settling down, finding a mate, creating offspring…' I almost fell out the window.

"What the heck are you talking about?" I whisper-shouted aloud as I rebalanced myself on the window sill.

'You and Fang would be excellent companions for one another.' My eyes went wide. 'Fang could provide for you when you are harboring his child-' HOLY AWKWARDNESS!

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Just hold up!" I hissed to the night air. I shut my eyes tightly and counted to three before speaking to the Voice again, this time in my head. 'There will be no more talk of babies, or mates, or whatever you delight yourself in embarrassing me with! We're just friends. Just. _Friends_. Best friends. And _nothing_ more. Now shut up, and let me at least attempt to relax again!'

'Max, Max, Max…' The voice tsked after a moment. 'Would _"_just a friend_" _give you messages and plant kisses on your neck?' Oh, for the love of-

I let out a muffled scream of frustration before flinging myself out the window and high up into the night sky, my tan wings working powerfully as they propelled me through the air. I burst into hyper speed, trying to drown out the Voice's words and the changes happening between me and my right hand man.

I flew over treetops and headed towards the stars, leaving my flock, and _Fang_, and temporary safe house behind.

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**A.N…. Mwahahahaha! Oh, THE AWKWARDNESS! :D **

**I know I made it kind of tense and awkward between them… But I hope it wasn't too over the top awkward! Especially at the end, but I couldn't resist putting that in there! **

**Tehe, and yes, the "Hothothot" meme' was from Tobuscus. Yeah, I'm a nerd like that… ******

And, as today is the fourth…

** HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY, EVERYBODY!**

**Please Review! Constructive Criticism would be very much appreciated! And thanks again for reading/reviewing!**

**And if you guys have any ideas for a possible 'what if?' one-shot, please let me know! I would love to hear you guy's input! **

**I'm currently just finishing up two separate chapters for this story, so I should have them up sometime soon! **

**And I have a hint for the next story! **

**It involves the words "mayhap" and "mutton."  
Mwahahaha! Feel free to guess! :D **


	3. Dates And Jealousy

**A.N… Thanks again to so many great reviews! You're all really supportive, and I'm always happy to get them! And I just want to say… You guys are awesome! :D **

**And I know that in the A.N. in the last chapter, I said I was going to do something with "mutton" and "mayhap" in this one.  
But I just want to tell you guys that I started it, and it's over half-way finished… But I'm having major writers block with that one. It will get finished soon, but I need a little more time to work on it! **

**So, in the meantime… I wrote this one! **

I've always imagined this scene ever since I first read the Second Maximum Ride book;

This scene takes place in School's Out Forever, and its right after Max gets back from her date with Sam, and then she and Fang have that mini argument that turns into talk about Max seeing her doppelganger and weirdly flirtatious brother. But I've always wondered:

**What if… The after-date talk between Max and Fang would have gone… a bit differently? ;) **

Meh-heh-heh, that wink was because I have something mischievous in mind!

But nothing inappropriate, don't worry!

**And for this one-shot, I'm going to pretend that Max doesn't bring up her brush with Ari or Max II. **

**But this one might be a bit OOC, since Max doesn't freak out like she probably would if this would have been in the books. **

**I'm not going to say any more! Read on, delightful people! :D **

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I watched as Sam drove off with his sister, my heart pounding and blood rushing in my veins. I just had my _first kiss_. I had just _kissed_ someone! As their car turned the corner and sped out of sight, I couldn't fight the excited smile that broke its way across my blushing face.

I slowly turned around and opened the door to the fancy entryway of Anne's house, shutting it tightly behind me. I felt… different. Weird, like everything was extra bright and colorful. Huh. Was this even normal?

Striding quietly through the lavish living room, I noticed Anne sitting on one of the plush leather sofas. She had been waiting for me to get home, and, what? Gush about my date? Uh, no thanks.

"How was it?" She asked excitedly, standing up and smiling widely at me, dressed in blue flannel P.J's.

"Fine." I said, blunt as always. I should really work on my people skills. "Well, good night." I kept walking and ran up the stairs, heading down the hallway towards 'my room'. I felt kind of bad for brushing Anne off like that, but I wasn't used to opening up to people. Especially strangers outside my flock, no matter how kind and hospitable they were. And squealing about girly stuff? Max don't do.

Pushing open my door, I walked to my bed and immediately collapsed on the edge, reliving my date. And, I admit it; I was reliving that kiss again, too. I know, I know; I'm such a sap. But I still couldn't get over the fact that I just went out to a real movie and got ice cream with a cute boy!

A quiet creaking noise came from my left and I swiveled my head to see the door to my room opening slightly. Fang poked his head around the door, his face unreadable as per usual. He walked in and held a hand over his eyes. "Whoa." He said. "Your happy glow. It's blinding." That noob.

I rolled my eyes at him before pulling off my oversized hoodie. I threw it on the ground and relaxed my shoulders, unfolding my wings slightly as I stretched them. Man that feels so much better! I had had them tucked in all night out of nervousness and stress, and it was nice to be able to relax again. Not that the date had been bad, because it had been the total opposite. But still, home was the flock, and the flock was my comfort. Well, except for Fang recently, but I digress...

Fang shut the door silently behind him. "The kids wanted to stay up and wait for you, but Anne made them go to bed." I was glad for that. I don't think I ever would have been able to live that kiss down if the rest of the flock got wind of it.

"Good thinking on Anne's part." I kicked off my sneakers and wiggled my toes. Ah! Freedom!

"So," Fang began, walking over to my desk at the far corner of my room and leaning against it. He crossed his arms against his torso, his face unreadable. "How was it?" Something was off in his voice, and my eyes snapped to his. Now, if I was anyone but me, I wouldn't have been able to notice the almost imperceptible twitch of his jaw muscle, or the way his eyes barely tightened. But I had noticed, and me being me, had to find out why.

"I saw him – What's the phrase? Oh yeah – 'stuck to you like glue.' So I guess you got along alright." What the- Oh. _Ohhhh_. Fangles was jealous! Wait… He had been watching me?

"Yeah," I said after a short pause. I had Fang pinned here. "There's a lot of that going around."

Fang looked a little bit embarrassed; his cheeks flushed the tiniest amount. I pulled off my socks, aiming them for the laundry basket in front of my closet mirror. I rolled on my comfy bed until I was lying against the headboard, fluffy pillows propped up under my back. Fang slowly strode over and scooted in beside me, copying my position and folding his arms against his chest again.

"So you like him. I don't have to kill him." My best friend stated tensely, staring at the door.

"He was really nice and sweet." I murmured, wringing my hands together. You know how I said that I didn't like talking about my emotions? Well, babbling about them to Fang, especially romantic feelings, was not on my list of fun things to do, ever. "And funny. He was respectful?" Man, I'm really not good at this kind of thing.

"I hope so, or I might have had to teach that kid some respect." I couldn't help it; I snorted. Fang snapped his narrowed eyes to mine. "What? You don't think I'd do it?"

"Oh, no," I smirked, holding back a sarcastic laugh. "I think you would do it. It's just funny that you'd actually want to." Usually he let me handle things by myself, knowing that I could deal with problems just as easy as he could. But apparently today was an off day, because he shifted on the bed and brought his face closer to mine.

"You don't think I'd try to protect you?" He questioned angrily, his eyes glaring into my own. Something was definitely bothering him. Fang usually never got angry this easily. Or showed anger, unless he was fighting a hoard of erasers or whitecoats.

"And you don't think that I can protect myself?" I retorted. Watch where you step, Fang; you're on thin ice. Fang stared at me, annoyance in his eyes, before he simply shrugged and turned his head to stare absently at the wall. My fists clenched. If there was one thing I hated more than anything, more than talking about mushy feelings even, was being made out to be weak. _Especially_ by another guy. And _extra_-especially by Fang.

So I did what I do best; I shoved him hard. Perhaps a bit too hard, as he went tumbling off the bed, wings flailing around him, narrowly avoiding the end table at the side of the mattress. Oops!

Fang instantly popped up from the floor, murder in his eyes. He braced his curled fists against the comforter as he tried to contain his anger. His shoulders were slouched slightly and his expression was dark and dangerous. I gulped. Fang could be really scary when he wanted to be.

"Max," He growled, nostrils flaring. I don't think I've ever seen him this upset about anything before. "What. The heck. Is your freaking problem?" His voice was deadly calm, filled with warning and dark undertones that I didn't really want to try and decipher at the moment.

"What's my problem?!" I exclaimed, rolling off the other side of the bed and matching his position. "What the flip is your problem?"

"My problem is that you just attacked me!" Okay, now he was definitely over exaggerating.

"Well, you deserved it! You practically called me a spineless cream puff who can't defend herself!" I was practically seething with anger now. I was having a perfect night, and then Fang had to come along and ruin it.

"Maybe sometimes you _do_ need defending!" Fang replied, his voice rising. We were practically having a stare down right now across the bed. "Face it, Max. You're not Superwoman!" That really hurt. I had always tried to be the fearless leader, the one who was invincible and always had a plan. But according to Fang at the moment, I was doing a crap job of it.

"How do you know? Not all girls are like your little red-headed school-girl who constantly throws herself at you and tells you how attractive you are!" I knew I was being childish, and maybe sounded a tad bit jealous. Which I was _so_ not. At_ all_!

Fang raised his eyebrows as a humorless smirk quirked his lips. "Really, Max? Because as I recall, you've thrown yourself at me more than a couple times in the past!" My mouth dropped open in disbelief. Oooh. That did it. Before I knew what I was doing, I was striding around the bed towards him, my finger pointed at his torso as I fumed. His angry eyes catalogued my every move.

"Look, _F'Nick_," I hissed when I reached him, poking him in the chest and getting up in his face. "I don't know what you have deluded your pea-sized brain into thinking that I feel for you, or that I '_throw_ myself at you,' but let me tell you; you have _never_ been more wrong." Fang stared down at me silently, the tension between us practically crackling in the air.

Fang's jaw clenched and his chin rose slightly in defense. "I don't like you." I continued, practically glaring holes through his livid eyes. "I will _never_ like you. You want to know why?" My voice was deathly calm as I spoke. I leaned up even closer to his face, our noses close to brushing. "Because I refuse to ever be with a jealous idiot who calls me weak or who thinks I'm a damsel. Newsflash for you Fang; I could kick your skinny white butt from here to next week in a fraction of a second. And I think you've forgotten that I can handle my own. I can do what I want, go where I want, _date_ who I want, and there's nothing you could ever do to change that about me. I don't need your permission; I don't need you trying to 'defend my honor', or any of that bull crap. And I most certainly _don't need your protection_."

By the end of my rant, I was practically exhausted. I've never had this bad of an argument with Fang in my whole life, and I knew that I would most definitely regret what I had said later. But I was just so _angry_ at him! And he was angry at me too, for reasons I didn't completely understand.

Fang and I stood there, locked in our stare-down, for what seemed like hours. Fang's eyes bore into mine, lit with an indiscernible passion. Whether it was driven by anger or hurt, I couldn't tell. Or maybe it was-

Fang suddenly grabbed my face and closed the little distance between us, smashing his mouth against mine. I stood paralyzed in shock as he kissed me hungrily, fueled by all of the anger and fury and tension that had built up from our fight. His hands slithered from my cheekbones and into my hair, wrapping around the back of my head and pulling me closer, tilting his head to kiss me deeper.

Okay, for all of you people who've never kissed Fang before (that better be all of you), you should know that kissing Fang was more addicting than eating Lay's potato chips. I mean, you can't just eat one and stop; you end up eating handfuls at a time, because it's so addicting... Okay, maybe that was a really bad analogy to describe kissing with… But my mind had instantly cleared when Fang's mouth touched mine, and I kissed him back with the same amount of passion that he was presenting to me. I couldn't help but keep kissing him, even though I faintly remembered in the back of my mind that I hated him at the moment.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins for the second time that night as I threw my arms around his neck, standing up on my tiptoes to reach his mouth easier. Fang crushed me to his chest with one hand as the other stayed in my hair, tangled up in my knotted brown curls.

I sighed against his lips as Fang ran a hand over my wings, the sensation sending shivers up my spine. I tangled one of my hands in his dark mane of hair, knotting my fingers through the short strands. Neglecting our hair for the entirety of our lives, being on the run and all, you would think his hair would be rough and coarse. But his felt soft and silky against my skin, and I couldn't help but play with it while our mouths slanted together. Anne must have amazing conditioner!

Fang pulled back slowly, smiling faintly at me as I twirled a longer lock of his hair near the top of his neck. We were both panting hard from our heated kiss, our arms still locked around each other. But as soon as his lips left mine, the world came crashing down on me again and I sucked in a breath, my eyes widening at Fang's dark ones. We had kissed! Fang and me… Oh, no. This was not good! But his eyes were calm and a bit… Happy? Pleased? Satisfied? Sometimes it was hard to tell with him.

"I bet that spineless wiener would never have kissed you like that." Fang stated breathlessly, his face still too close to mine. My hands were still locked in his midnight black hair, and my body must have a mind of its own, because my hands were making no effort to part from his head.

I was still shocked by the whole kiss, so I said the first thing that came to mind. "Wiener?" I did a mental face palm. Wow, real eloquent, Max!

Fang's small smile widened into that half-grin that I loved, his eyes searching mine. "Yep. Face it, Max. You dated a wienie."

"What?" I asked, still confused and very _very_ light-headed. "How does that work out? He was really cute!" Fang rolled his eyes

"Well, compared to me? I mean, come on!" Now it was my turn to roll my eyes as I smacked his arm. Such a tease! I slowly dropped my hand from his hair and stepped away from his embrace, peering into his eyes. This was… Different. Fang and I. Like _this_. Kissing each other, and holding each other like we had, when we were just hurling insults at one another moments before.

I felt really strange, even more strange than when Sam kissed me. The kiss with Sam was nice… But the kiss with Fang washed his out indefinitely in comparison. But still, I had just gotten back from a date just moments before, and here I was kissing my best friend. And Fang had kissed that girl at school, and now he was kissing me… And my mind was foggy, and everything felt so strange now.

"Fang, what about… That red headed girl? Your girlfriend?" Fang shook his head, looking deep into my eyes.

"She kissed me, Max." Fang murmured. He maneuvered around me to sit at the edge of my bed, staring at me. I decided to join him, but made sure that there was a great deal of space between us.

"Yeah, but you kissed her back." I didn't want Fang toying with me, or whatever it was that he was doing now. Actually, I really didn't know what I wanted at the moment. Part of me wanted to yell at Fang and shove him out of my room… But part of me still really liked that we were beginning to work things out.

"And you kissed Sam." Fang replied softly, leaning back on his arms, his eyes boring into mine. I spun so my legs were bent and my feet were resting on the bedspread, pointing towards Fang. I locked my arms around my knees, resting my head against them.

"Were you jealous?" I questioned, only half-teasing. I really wanted to make sure I had read him right. "When we kissed? Or when we went out to that movie?" Fang seemed to debate with himself before replying.

"I didn't like it." Fang admitted grudgingly. He looked down at his boots. "When I saw you and him together… I don't know; I got really angry. Like I wanted to punch his lights out." I smiled slightly. I could totally relate to this feeling.

"I guess I felt the same way when I saw you and that girl together, too." Fang nodded, his lips quirking up.

"Soo…" Fang trailed off, kicking off his boots. "Where does this put us?" He shifted to match my position; arms locked around his knees and head on his arms; his socked feet were only just touching my bare ones.

I sighed. "I'm not sure." Everything was still so confusing. I needed more time to think. Fang looked up at me from under his dark lashes, his long bangs flopping in front of his eye. His hair was still pretty short from that free makeover we got in New York, except for his long floppy bangs. Don't tell him this, but I kind of missed his longer shaggy hair.

"I think the fact that we both get mad when we see each other with other people has to mean something." Fang was also working this out in his head. At least he wasn't the only one who had no clue what to think. "I mean, why get jealous if there wasn't something between us?" Hmm… Good question, Fangles.

"I don't know." I retorted, frustrated. "Because we're best friends?"

"What does that have to do with us dating others?" Fang raised an eyebrow, clearly not understanding.

"Because we're afraid that they're going to steal us away from each other?" It was a possible reason. I didn't ever want to lose my friendship with Fang, and now he was hanging around that girl at school all the time instead of me… But something in the back of my head told me that I was missing the full picture.

"I just really don't think that's the reason." Fang must be thinking the same way I was.

"Well, then what is?" This was more frustrating than I could have ever imagined!

"We're… Close. We've always been close. But lately, things have been changing? Tell me you've noticed it too." When I gave him a questioning look, he continued his explanation. "Things aren't really that easy between us anymore. We fight a lot, and there's always this weird tension around us when we're together. It's not exactly unpleasant, just… Stressful. It's like we're straining to go back to how we were when we were kids, but I don't think it's possible anymore."

"So you're saying that we're not best friends?" I murmured quietly. That hurt. Fang and I had always been inseparable, and now he was telling me-

"No!" Fang reassured, reaching out one of his arms and tapping my ankle lightly in comfort. He moved his arm back to rest on his knee, stretching it out slightly. "We are, and we always will be. I'm just saying that there's something new between us, something… Different, that wasn't there before.

"Wait, are you talking about feelings?" Oh wow, that was a dumb question to ask! Of course he was talking about them! What else would he be talking about? Potatoes?

Fang shook his head in disbelief, a small amused smirk on his lips. "Yes, Max. I am talking about feelings." I felt _really_ stupid right now. "And the fact that we may have them for each other."

"So… You're saying that you like me?" I asked. I knew I was a bit slow at understanding this, but hey! I just got introduced to all this mushy stuff a few hours ago!

"Would I have kissed you if I didn't?" Fang replied, raising a challenging eyebrow.

"You could have. You were pretty mad." I argued. Fang shrugged his shoulders in a 'so?' gesture. I rolled my eyes at him. "You kissed me pretty aggressively. I thought you just acted on a spur of the moment, thing." His face flushed a bit at the mention of him 'kissing aggressively'.

"It wasn't like I planned it…" Fang trailed off, running his hand through his short hair, "But I don't regret doing it." He flicked his eyes to meet mine again, his gaze intense as he waited for my reaction.

I opened up my mouth a couple times to speak, but I wasn't really sure what I felt at the moment. Fang liked me! Fang didn't regret kissing me! But yet, we were still a family, like brother and sister... Eew… Well, maybe not anymore… But still! I just… I didn't know.

"Fang," I began, stopping to gather my thoughts while Fang waited patiently. "I don't… I don't know what I feel right now." I definitely needed to think things over, but my mind was so foggy at the moment… Fang nodded in understanding.

"Anything I can help clear up?" He asked, stretching one of his legs out so it rested to my right. The thing was, I had a lot of questions I needed cleared up. But I was suddenly exhausted from the day's shenanigans. School, date with Sam, _kiss_ with Sam, kiss with _Fang_, and then a huge talk about major feels? I was _beyond_ tired.

"Maybe later," I sighed, lifting my head and stretching out my arms. I shifted so that my legs were twisted to the side beneath me. "Right now, I'm just…"

"Drained?" Fang finished for me, his lips quirking up the tiniest amount when I let out a big yawn. I nodded.

"Yeah, you could say that." I affirmed. Fang removed his leg from beside me and slid from the bed, padding over to me.

"Should we continue talking about this tomorrow?" Fang asked questioningly, standing beside the end table he almost smacked into earlier.

"Yeah. That would be nice," I stated, rubbing at my eyes. Fang nodded again and leaned forward. I tensed and sat stiffly as he leaned closer, my senses hyper-aware. He gently placed his lips on my forehead, kissing me quickly before stepping back and turning towards the door with a quiet "Good night". He picked up his boots on the way, raising his hand to turn off the light as he reached the doorway.

"Oh, Fang?" I asked suddenly, wanting to get something off my chest. He raised one of his eyebrows for me to go on, his hand still hovering by the switch. Dang, he really has that down to an art! He's like a… eyebrow speaker, or something. "I'm sorry. For, um... Saying those things, and pushing you off the bed, and telling you I didn't like you. Which is _totally_ untrue!…" I trailed off.

"No problem," Fang smiled slightly, nodding his head. "I deserved it."

"No, you didn't. If I could take it back-"

"Go to sleep, Max," Fang interrupted, flipping off the switch.

"…Goodnight, Fang!" I called after his silhouette as he opened the door. Now I kind of wished we would have talked longer… Oh, I don't know!

"Yeah. Sweet dreams." Fang exited through the door; quietly easing it shut as not to wake the sleeping inhabitants in the house.

"…Superwoman," He murmured softly. He shut the door, and I was left alone in the darkness of my room. A huge grin snuck its way onto my face.

I turned and flopped onto my pillows, smiling onto the fluffy fabric. Fang, Fang, Fang… Oh, geez, not this girliness again! But I couldn't help it;

That boy just made me smile sometimes.

Ya' know; when he's not annoying... Or stubborn, or obnoxious. Or a total butt.

I sighed happily and rolled over, staring at the ceiling. I closed my eyes, trying hard to block my mind of everything that had just happened between me and my best friend and willing my heart to relax, since it was practically pounding as hard as it would if I had just taken out a hoard of Erasers! I shut everything out, attempting to forget about the date with Sam, and my two first kisses.

And after two hours and forty-three minutes of trying to fall asleep… I finally drifted off to dreamland.

And boy, did I dream!

I bet you can guess whom I dreamed about, too.

Yep, that's right…

… Fang…

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**A.N… Soo… Whatcha' think? **

**I hope it wasn't too cheesy! I re-read the ending, and I was like 'eh… This seems kind of sappy.' **

**The next one will most definitely be the chapter I said I was going to do last time, which will include a lot more humor and shenanigans than this one and the last one, since those were dealing with a lot of feelings! Plus, the next one will have the whole flock in it, and won't be just Max x Fang centered, although it will have some Fax in there! **

**Please review! Constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated! **

**And thanks again for reading! **

**And remember; if you have an idea for a possible 'what if…', please review and tell me your idea! I would love to have your guys' input! **


	4. Knights and Renaissance Fairs

**A.N… Thanks again to all of you who reviewed! I really appreciate all of the encouragement you guys give me! And thanks for the ideas too! I've added all of them to my list, and I think I'll start one or two of them really soon!  
But I was looking at different fanfictions the other day, and I saw a couple people put their responses to their reviews in their stories, so I wanted to give it a try! **

**kateflowrchild13…**Thank you! I always love reading your reviews; they're so encouraging!**  
MagsRocks… **Thanks for the idea! I added that to my list, and that would be a really interesting plotline to write about!  
**KurlyCrazyKat… **Thanks for the encouragement! Haha, that part was fun to write about! :D

**So, in the last two chapters, I've hinted in my A.N.'s that I was going to do something with "medievalness" and "mutton", in this chapter, and I've finally gotten enough written to post it! But the thing is, It got kind of long, and I still have some things that I would love to touch on with this subject, so I will probably be turning this one into a two-shot/three-shot, not sure which!**  
**So, here's the theme!:**

What if… The flock goes to a renaissance fair?

**Granted, I've never gone to a renaissance fair before, but I have seen them in movies! I have a deep love for medieval-ish things, and I thought that this could be a really fun subject to write! **

**Also, I will try to fit a lot of humor in here (since it's my specialty ;) ), and this one is going to be more about the whole flock, rather than just Fang x Max centered, although it will be there! Just you wait! :D**

**I've also kind of been slacking off with writing the ownership titles, so just assume from herein out:**  
**"I don't own Maximum Ride. (If I did, the last three books would have gone a lot differently) I don't own the characters, either. Only this story!**

**And keep in mind that this story is going to have a lot of nerdy knights/fair-goers, and a lot of humor that ensues. I'm not trying to make fun of anyone who goes to renneissance fairs, because I would love to go to one myself! (My best friend and I talk about finding costumes so we can go to one someday in the future, but sadly, there is none close to us. :( ****). And I'm not sure how accurate the setting will be, since I've never been to one before. I tried to get the medieval-speak down properly by looking up how to say stuff on Google (Go Google!), but it's not 100% correct. **

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"Just remember to be respectful, and try to get into character if you can." Dr. Martinez instructed, peering at the flock through the review mirror as the seven-seater van sped down the highway.

"Us, disrespectful?" I joked, adjusting the seatbelt restraint. I hated those things. "Never!" Iggy snorted in the seat behind me, and I fought back a snicker. The flock and I didn't have much schooling in the manners department.

"Just try, please." Mom stressed, glancing up from the road to give me a pointed look.

"Oh, you all have to try the mutton when we get there!" Ella gushed excitedly from the seat beside Iggy, turning to look at the rest of the flock in the seats behind her. I turned and glanced at them too, all squashed up in the back together. Fang was situated in the middle with Gazzy on his left and Nudge on his right. Angel was tucked in Fang's lap, his arms locked tightly around her as a make-shift seatbelt.

Mom had argued that it wasn't safe before we had taken off, but we assured her that Fang could probably protect the little six year old much better than a seat belt would in the case of an accident. Mom had reluctantly agreed, and we had all piled in the claustrophobic van, heading towards our destination.

Where, do you ask, are we going perchance? Why, to an old-fashioned renaissance fair, of course! Where we will interact with 'knights' and 'maidens' in medieval-speak, and learn about the history of the ancient 1300's! Did I also mention that once we arrived, we had to get fitted into our very own medieval outfits? Yeah. Max not happy.

But, on, the bright side, participants get unlimited food, and us bird kids could eat to our heart's content. Now I didn't know much about the history of medieval life, but I do know that they had some pretty yummy homemade dishes! I couldn't wait to try out some of them. Or maybe _all_ of them. Heh-heh!

"What the heck is 'mutton'?" Iggy asked curiously, leaning towards the direction of Ella's voice.

"Yeah, what is it?" Nudge questioned, removing one of her pink ear buds. "Is it some kind of pasta? It's kind of a weird name; 'mutton'. But it could totally be, like, a lasagna or something."

"Nope, it's not pasta." Ella replied. "It's some kind of meat, and it's a little tough, but they give you a bunch of it, and its _sooo_ yummy!"

"It's sheep, honey." Mom said, smiling at her daughter through the mirror. "But yes, their food is delicious! There's a whole selection of meat you can choose from, and there's a bunch of cheese, fruits, wine– but stay away from that, you're too young; vegetables, pies, cakes-"

"Pies and Cakes?" Angel exclaimed, bouncing up and down in Fang's lap excitedly. "Two of my favorite foods, ever!" She was too cute!

"Hold still, you little goober." Fang said, trying to get Angel to settle down as she squirmed in his lap. Ha-ha! _Goober_.

"Yep!" Ella answered, smiling at the beaming six year old. "There's a _ton_ of different kinds! But my personal favorite is their cherry pies. Yu-um! They're delicious!"

"Do they have ice cream, too?" Gazzy asked, peering at Ella with hopeful eyes.

"Hmm… I think they do!" Ella replied, giggling as Gazzy let out a big "Whoop-Whoop!"

I chuckled as I turned back around in my seat, string out of the passenger side window as I watched the trees blur by. We were in a heavily forested area, and, supposedly, the fair grounds were in a huge clearing of trees deep in the forest. I sighed. We were getting closer.

Mom suddenly turned on the blinker and slowed the van in order to take a right turn onto a forested cement road. The flock grew quiet as they stared out the windows, taking in the balloons and wooden signs that indicated where to drive.

The winding road continued for a minute or two before a large tan sign appeared over the pathway. It read: 'Welcome thee to… MEDIEVAL ACRE' in large old-fashioned script. Gee, that's quite original!

"Well, here we are guys!" Mom announced enthusiastically. The whole flock and Ella cheered, minus me and Fang, Dressing up in costumes would not be fun. Heh; Maybe Fang will have to wear something other than black. I looked in my side mirror to see Fang's reflection, seated in the back of the car, Angel on his lap. He spotted me looking at him and rolled his eyes to convey his annoyance. He really didn't want to be here. I rolled mine back at him, and his mouth quirked up the tiniest bit. At least I wasn't alone in this.

Mom parked the car in an empty parking spot, way in the back of the grass lot. We opened up our doors and shuffled out of the van. I was a bit relieved to be back on solid ground again; us bird kids did not like being cooped up in small places, take it from me.

The flock gasped in awe at the huge fairgrounds, contained by tall wooden fences. The tops of large brightly colored tents and pavilions shown from inside the grounds, and the sound of laughter and exuberant chatter could be heard from within.

'Well,' I thought sarcastically as we began walking towards the entrance, manned by two fully armored knights with money belts tied around their suited waists, 'This is going to be fun...'

* * *

"I. Hate. This." I declared, annunciating every word. I glowered at my reflection in the mirror. I had been forced into some kind of linen corset dress, with puffy sleeves and a flowing skirt. The gown was a dark burgundy color, and the area of the neckline, waistline, and ribbon around the 'poof' of the sleeves was a golden floral print. On top of that, I was forced to wear an itchy under-tunic and a golden tiara atop my head. Princess Max. Please kill me now!

"Oh, honey!" Mom cooed cheerfully as she peered in from the flap of the small white burlap 'changing tent' that I was standing in. Many others were spread at the entrance of the fair, and the flock was all getting dressed into their medieval garb. "You look so _beautiful_!" Mom was wearing a dark royal purple gown, an intricate crown weaved into her dark curls.

She rushed over to me, skirt flowing around her ankles and a large smile on her face. "I look like a pansy!" I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.

Mom gave me a stern look, straitening my lopsided tiara."You look like a medieval princess, Max. And a very pretty one at that." She gave me a wink, a secretive smile crossing her face. "I know one young sir that won't be able to keep his eyes off you!" What? Oh, for the love of-

"Not you too, Mom!" I whined as she giggled. Everyone in the flock always teased me and Fang, accusing us of secretly dating. Which we were not! I mean, we had kissed before… But that has nothing to do with anything! And now my mom thought we were dating too? Gah! I can never win!

"I'm sorry sweetie, but I couldn't resist." She pulled me into a motherly hug, and I relaxed in her arms. Mom gave the best hugs ever.

"Yeah, yeah." I muttered into her shoulder. She laughed and pulled away from me, grabbing my flowy-sleeve-covered arm.

"Just _have fun_, okay? That's all we're here for." She smiled gently at me before she released my arm and grasped my hand, tugging me toward the tent flap. I unwillingly followed, my worn converse clad feet shuffling reluctantly behind her. The 'royal seamstress' that picked out my outfit had insisted that I wear some form of clogs, but I immediately refused. No one touches my converse! They were my babies…

Stepping out of the tent and into the festive atmosphere, I immediately spotted my flock standing by a tall wooden flag pole in the center of the circle of changing tents. Mom let go of my hand, and together we dodged the many fair-goers, each dressed in their own costumes.

I walked slowly up to my family, taking in each of their appearances. Angel was wearing a rosy pink princess dress with matching slippers and sparkles and glitter on the skirt. Gazzy was adorable, dressed in a hunter green velvet suit, stockings pulled up to his knees and tucked into black clogs. Ella's gown was a baby blue color, no poof and all elegance. How did _she_ get so lucky? Iggy had on a puffy white v-neck shirt with brown trousers and knee-high black boots. And Fang…

Fang was dressed in a dark blue, almost black, cotton tunic with matching trousers, knee high boots identical to Iggy's covering his feet. He had an elaborate dark cape that hung to the back of his thighs, and a black leather belt that was fitted across his waist. To be perfectly honest, he looked like batman would if he fell into a time warp and ended up in the 1300's.

The girls were all wearing tiaras, and the guys wore crowns atop their heads. Except Iggy had slanted his down so it was sitting lopsided on his head, claiming it was "more stylish" that way.

"Wait," I asked, a thought occurring to me. "Where's Nudge?" I peered around through the crowd, trickling in through the gates. After they each stopped and paid their fifty dollar fees, of course.

"She's still in her tent being made-up." Iggy stated, brushing his hands down his cotton shirt, fingering the low neck line. At least it had criss-crossed strings on it.

"Oh, okay." I muttered. Iggy's costume really didn't look too 'royal sir-ish', and I couldn't exactly place what it reminded me of… Oh, duh! "Iggy, you look like a pirate." All he was missing was a large captain's hat instead of that crown.

Iggy grinned, flashing his pearly whites. "There were pirates in the middle ages, weren't there?"

"Pirates have existed ever since the ancient Roman times," My mom said, smiling at Iggy and I. "They were present in the medieval era, but they only usually stuck to areas bordering the seas." My mom was so smart!

"Well, why couldn't I have been a pirate?" I asked grumpily, placing my hands on my hips. I would have much rather been a suave kick-butt thief instead of being dressed as a sweet royal princess! "There were girl pirates too, weren't there?"

Mom nodded her head in affirmation. "There was Anne Bonny. She was a fierce, combat-worthy pirate of the Carribean Seas. She pirated and co-captained along with her lover, Calico Jack, on their ship, _the_ _Revenge_. Although, she wasn't born until a later era." Hmm… I'm starting to really like this woman!

"I would have much rather been her." I grumbled, kicking at my skirt's trimmed hemline. Have I mentioned how annoying dresses were?

"Well, I for one-eth, doust thinketh you looketh darling-eth!" Nudge exclaimed, twirling towards us in dramatic excitement, her shimmering purple gown flowing around her as she did so.

"Nudge, I don't think adding '-eth' to the end of each word makes it medieval." Fang stated as Nudge reached us. Her dark hair was braided neatly with multi-colored ribbons so her sparkly bejeweled crown wouldn't fall from her head. I guess Renaissance fairs needed their fashionistas too!

"But the tailor that picked out my _fabulous_ outfit used '–eth's' in her words all the time!"

"Just listen to the other people and the vendors, and you'll pick it up easy!" Ella instructed, motioning towards the archway that led to the fair. "It's really fun once you get the hang of it!"

"Yeah, we'll see about that…" I mumbled, as the flock all grouped together and shuffled forwards, leaving the fair's entry and heading towards the fray.

* * *

"And hereby cometh Lord Harvard Chanley, the Magnificent!" The jester boomed on the loudspeakers, as a tall knight in black armor walked bravely to his horse and mounted it, giving an extravagant bow to the crowd. The crowd went wild, including some of the members of my flock. Another knight gave him a lance with styrofoam on the tip to insure no impaling or major injuries would happen to the other rider.

"And now, cometh once more to attempt to fetch thee victory; Lord Sheldon The Brave-hearted!" The crowd cheered once more as a tall blonde teen stepped up to his 'steed', another large lance with a safety foam tip in one hand and a helmet in his other. He mounted his horse and waved princess-like to the crowd, before dramatically flourishing his cape behind him and donning his helmet. Wow. What a stud.

The Gasman nudged me from my right, and I looked down at him, trying to hold in my bored expression. "Max, may I commandeer one of those fine mares and attack people with lances?" He gazed at me with big bambi eyes. I narrowed my eyes at him. Gazzy smiled sheepishly up at me, and I couldn't help but let a reluctant grin slip out. He was just too darn adorable!

"Entertaining as that may be, I don't think that it would be smiled upon by my mother dearest." Mom would freak out! Not to mention that she would refuse to bake cookies for us as punishment. And that was the worst kind of punishment, trust me!

"Dang it…" Gazzy muttered, snapping his fingers like Swiper from _Dora the Explorer_. I reached over and ruffled his hair, and he ducked away, glaring playfully at me before trying to straighten his shaggy blonde mane.

A loud horn blew from the fields below, and I instantly spun towards the noise, suddenly alert and ready for action. But it was only the beginning of the third jousting round, as the horses took off with their riders, each one on opposite sides of a low fence and across the field from each other. Lord Sheldon and Lord Chanley sped closer and closer to one another, each raising their lances when they were within a couple dozen yards of colliding.

And when they were within mere feet from each other, Lord Sheldon suddenly dropped his lance and maneuvered his steed away from the fence, just out of reach of the other knight's strike. Chanley, who won by default, slowed his horse to a stop as the crowd booed at the cowardly Lord Shelton. He trotted off stage, throwing his helmet off in anger.

"So much for "Lord Brave-heart" being brave," Ella murmured teasingly from my left. I snickered. The victorious knight thrust his fist in the air, and the crowd half-heartedly cheered, since there was no impaling of lances.

"Yeah, no kidding," Iggy retorted from Ella's side, grinning in Ella's direction. "Lord Braveheart? More like Lord of the Cowardly Cream Puffs." Oh, Ig…

Ella laughed, bumping Iggy's shoulder with her own. I squinted my eyes. Hmm… I wonder if they have feelings for each other… "That would be a much more appropriate name, for sure!" Ella exclaimed, making Iggy smile even wider. I leaned back on the grandstand bench I was sitting on, tilting my head to look behind Ella and Iggy. I peered at Fang's form, sitting by Ig's left. Fang was subtly peering at the couple, a slight curiousity in his eyes. I sat up straight again in my seat. So it wasn't just me that thought so. I smiled evilly. Oh, the teasing that I could rain upon them!

"And Lord Chanley the Magnificent is the victor!" The jester boomed on the loudspeakers, as Lord Chanley, the knight that I couldn't remember, galloped his steed onto the exit area, awaiting his next turn. "And now, here cometh Lord Harold Barker the Brawn on thy north side of thee fence!" People cheered, and the Lord let out a warrior cry before banging on his chest and hopping on his horse.

"Hey Max," Angel asked from the Gasman's side. "Don't you think he looked like a monkey there?" She grinned at me, kicking her pink slippered feet underneath the bench, her blonde curls bouncing up and down as she did so.

"He sure did, kiddo." To me, all these men looked like monkeys.

"Or Tarzan," Nudge supplied, smiling at me from Angel's side. I grinned. That about summed it up! "Ya' know, like how he bangs on his chest and lets out that loud screech! Although, it didn't go 'OOH-EY-EEA-OOHH' like Tarzan's usually does, it was pretty close! And, I mean, he's not wearing a loin cloth, which Tarzan does, but I can totally understand why, since riding a horse with only a loin-cloth on would probably hurt _really_ bad. He would probably get a lot of chafing from that, for sure. And he totally-"

"Nudge, sweetie," Mom interrupted, giving the talkative princess a soft smile. "Your mouth is running a mile a minute, again." Nudges face flushed, and she gave my Mom a sheepish smile.

"Sorry," Nudge began, raising her hand and 'zipped her lips'.

I looked back toward the games as the horn blew again, making me jump for the fourth time this evening, and the two knights took off, Lord Barker screaming in what I assumed was meant to be intimidating, as he and the other knight who's name I didn't quite catch rushed towards each other. Lord Barker increased the pitch of his battle cry as they were within mere feet from one another, before Barker tilted his lance and hit the other knight square in his chest, sending 'no-name' off his horse and onto the ground.

The crowd went wild once more, as the victorious knight raised his arms in a 'v' formation, overjoyed by his win. I sighed, resting my head on my arm. Only twenty six more rounds to go...  
_

* * *

I strode through the fair alone, kicking up dirt with my converse. After seven more rounds of jousts, and more than a dozen more to go in the tournament, I decided that I couldn't sit still any longer, and snuck away to tour the grounds. I felt kind of bad for leaving the flock there alone, but I knew they were in good hands, as Fang and Mom were both keeping a watchful eye on them while I "went to the bathroom" Ha-ha; I'm such a sneaky rebel!

"M'Lady!" A red-headed vendor exclaimed as I passed by, resting his arms against his small shop's railing. "Mayhap thou t'would like a beauteous necklace, or e'en a crafted ring? They be only twenty parcels of change!" I shook my head, trying not to seethe at the man. Just because I looked like a princess didn't mean that I was one. Necklaces and jewelry? Totally not my thing.

"No thanks; I'm good." I muttered, ignoring the man's disappointed face at my not using 'medieval-speak'.

"M'Lady!" A gypsy woman exclaimed from inside a small tent, the flaps pulled back to reveal crystal balls and beads inside, "'T'would you delight in the foretelling of your future? The tarot cards, they ne'er tell a falsehood!" Hmm… interesting… I might have to stop back here in a while.

"Not at the moment." I murmur, walking past the shop.

"M'Lady, M'Lady!" A woman exclaimed from inside a gift shop. "T'would you be delighted with handmade garb, or crafted drinking glasses? They be the finest in the kingdom!"

I was beginning to get really agitated. "Nope, and no thanks." I picked up my pace, dodging a teen who was trying to hit his friend with a plastic sword.

I continued on my tour, striding passed open taverns filled with men, with scantily clad waitresses with very low-cut shirts. I shuddered. Fiddlers and singers were composing music to my left, and some people were dancing in a small crowd. A play was going on to my right, and I looked just in time to see a king get 'stabbed' by a rueful peasant. The crowd gathered around them and gasped. Some even had tears in their eyes as the King died almost instantly, falling over and dramatically gasping for breath before turning his head and falling limp on the stage. I shook my head. So over-dramatic.

I turned a corner, dodging people and small children heading towards the many events and vendors. The smell of food was really tempting, but I should probably wait for the flock to get done watching the jousting tournament before I indulged, knowing that the kids would be mad if we didn't eat together. But it was just so hard! A large wooden pie shop sat in the small walkway, the smell of the delicious desserts wafted through the open window and clouded my senses.

'_No, Max!_' I thought to myself, clenching my fists. '_Stay strong for the kids!'_ I looked around for a distraction, anything that popped out at me. Woman flirting with nerdy knights in a corner, A hobo playing the guitar for money sitting by a wall… A 'gentleman' contest where a knight must impress a princess for money… Nope…

And then, I saw it…

My eyes lit up, and I made a bee-line for the rectangular station across the walkway. Stepping confidently up to the rope fence alongside a few other men, I waited excitedly for the challenge to begin. This was _definitely_ my kind of entertainment. A nerdy brown-haired teenage boy scoffed from my side, smirking down at me. Cocky, eh? I smirked right back. I was going to kick his butt, and that kid didn't know what was coming to him.

He raised his eyebrows in humor and turned to his friend, whispering in a black-haired jock's ear. The jock laughed, glancing at me quickly, and shook his head before turning to a man standing in front of a series of targets and wooden stations, blunted silver daggers in his hand. Yeah, I'll show both of those jokers.

The old grey-bearded 'knight' standing in front of the fence peered at each of us, a challenging grin on his lips. He straightened his tunic with one hand, holding the daggers by his side as the maximum number of contestants lined up against the ropes.

"Good morrow, lads… and lass." The man began, pacing in front of the ropes. "'Tis a beauteous morn, is it not?" The men grumbled from beside me in affirmation, and I simply nodded my head. "This challenge be t'ree parcels of change, and 'twill begin after e'ry one has paid their dues." Crap. I took off my right converse, turning it upside down and shaking it for change. That may sound weird, but Mom had given us each six coins to spend, and the stupid dresses had no pockets.

After a few seconds of shaking, six coins came out, and I handed three of them to the old man, who grinned at my method of storing change, before moving to the rope and un-latching the entrance. Hopping as I got my shoe back on, I followed behind the group, picking out one of the six empty slots to the right of the middle. The slots were more like fences, low hanging enough that we could see over-top of them to observe our competition. The old man began walking around, handing five daggers each to the contestants, which he fished out of a big belt hanging around his waist.

The brown-haired jerk from earlier leaned over the low fence towards me, condescendingly smiling at me. "Greetings, princess," He crooned cockily, resting his hands against the railing. "Do not weep when we best thou in this battle." Pssh. As if!

I raised my eyebrow at him, another smirk forming over my lips. "Hello there, dingbat. Don't go crying to _your mother_ when I shove my foot up your-"

"M'Lady?" The man interrupted, holding out my daggers with his eyebrows raised in warning. I sighed and took them, placing three on the grassy ground by my feet and holding one in each hand. The knight moved on, handing the daggers out to the final three people at the end; The cocky jerk and his jock friend included. The old man stepped off to the side, leaning against the wall.

"Alas, 'tis time to begin thee challenge. E'ry warrior has five silver knives, and whomever pierces the rings closest to thee center, will be awarded with a splended prize!" The man paused so we could take in the information. "You see, the rings are each worth different points; the closest ye be to the center, the more generous score ye get. Ye be sure to throw thee knives with caution, as they be very troublesome. There be no throwing at others," He gave me a pointed look. _Dang it_, "and certainly no foolery whilst dealing with these weapons."

"And that be-est spoken, ye may begin!"

I raised the dagger in my right hand, balancing it lightly in my grasp. I've dealt with knives before, as it was part of Jeb's training way back in the E-house times. Although I was a bit rusty, I knew how to throw them, how to tilt my wrist and adjust my aim just right to make them hit the target. That may sound creepy, but hey! A bird-girl's gotta' learn to survive somehow!

The men let their daggers fly, a couple of them missing their targets. I looked over to the jerk and his friend to see that they had each hit around the first rung, the jerk having hit slightly closer to the center of the first. Not bad, not bad. The jerk sent me another smirk, seeing as I hadn't thrown mine yet. What is it with that guy and smirking? Wiggling my eyebrows at him, I turned and rapidly threw my right dagger, then the left within half a second of each other.

I assessed my aim; Not too shabby! The right dagger had hit the borderline of the first rung, and the left had hit the center of the same ring, dangerously close to the bulls eye. I slyly slid my gaze over to Sir Overly-Confidant, who looked at me in disbelief. The old man locked his surprised gaze with mine from where he was leaning against the wall, granting me a nod of appreciation. Allllrighty, then!

Let the challenge begin, Mr. Cocky…

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**A.N… So, what do you guys think? This will be continued soon, since I already half over half the next part written already. **

**But yeah! There 'tis! :D  
And with people disappointed by the lack of FAX in this one, keep reading! It will be there, trust me!**

**Please Review/Tell me how it went! I'm not trying to be review-hungry or anything, but I got half as many reviews on the last chapter than I normally do; If there's anything you didn't like about the last chapter or wish for me to do differently, please message me and I will keep in in consideration! I will find any criticism constructive, so let me know!**

**Oh, and if you have any ideas from in the books or just random ideas for a possible one-shot, please let me know! Review/PM. I will add them to my list! It can be anything you can think of, anything at all!  
Just throw it out there, kay? :D **


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